March 01, 2012

February 27, 2012

It's different this year. There is no more stroller in front of me. I am keenly aware of its absence I admit. For over a quarter century I have followed behind the wheels. But in place of the familiar hum of the axles spinning there is now a pair of tiny boots skipping, jumping, twirling. There are two bitty hands reaching, digging, pointing, sharing. Treasures in hand, she trips along the trail joy-filled and breathless checking every puddle and ditchside weed. And I am right behind, soaking it all in.

Someday - too soon - she will venture farther than I can follow. For today, though, we walk together. I am grateful for every step.

As we walked this day I felt a coin in my coat pocket. (pictured above) It wasn't a Euro and the saint caught my eye. When I came home I looked it up. It is Bulgarian and commemorates St Ivan of Rila (Rilski). You can see it here. Allen or Zach must have picked it up in Poland, Czech Republic, or Turkey is our best guess. Just made me laugh. How crazy that this is my life! I am grateful for this too. : )

February 22, 2012

Fasching 2012 was a bit more um, colorful, than Fasching 2011. At least for us. Husband had read about the parade in Mainz and heard it was second only to the celebration in Koln. It isn't all that far away and it seemed like something to to check off the bucket list while we were here.

I did mention it to my German friends a few days earlier to which they both responded, "Why? They'll all be drunk," with a shake of their heads. Honestly, we took that with a grain of salt. For one thing, all German festivals involve a fair amount of alcohol. While drinking and driving is dealt with severely here, open intoxicants and drinking and walking are not considered a problem. So we expected some of that. But "all" sounded like an exaggeration. Yeah.

It wasn't.

I am just going to interject here that the little people generally get dressed up cute when going out in public. But sometime in those last minutes before we get out the door Brendan usually reworks at least part of his outfit. Today it was his cold weather gear. So. Back to your regularly scheduled programming...

We arrived an hour or so before the parade was set to begin and immediately found a parking spot. Rare events such as these always make us pause and go, hmmmm <g> After scouring the street for signs to the contrary, we assured ourselves it was, indeed, a legit spot. We headed down through the park to the city center. It wasn't hard to find. You just follow the noise.

The parade route was lined with beer trucks and pommes vendors, beer and french fries being standard festing fare. People were milling about and just beginning to line up streetside. We took spots ourselves and settled in. That lasted about 20 minutes, at which point a crowd of "young people" (ok, did I just say that? I did. I think I am very old....) could be seen carousing down the street in our direction. When they gathered on our corner and decided to stay I smiled pathetically at Husband and he moved us further down the road. Right after I taped them. <g> It's terrible video because you know, there is a fine line between getting footage of drunken revelry and being noticed getting footage of same.

You get extra points if you can identify the song on that one. If you watch international soccer you might recognize it. Give me an H!

So we set up again and waited. A long time. Two more hours actually. Which required some pommes to convince Abbie it was going to be worth it.

The crowds grew to massive size by the time the parade reached our end of town. Like, massive. Like, the kind of crowds you see on the news massive. The rest of the event could be summed up thusly: music, costumes, and public drunkeness. All in large quantities.

You might think you have a visual, but if you haven't been here I am venturing to say you probably don't. I am not posting all my pics here (though several will likely end up on the website by the end of the week) because some were a little over the top. Like the guy dangling the little girl out of the window ala Michael Jackson. Or the old folks in the parade chugging tiny shot bottles of vodka as they marched. Or the bottles and broken glass that literally covered the streets like peanuts at the Organ Grinder. (Did I just date myself? Someone tell me there are still Organ Grinder restaurants someplace?)

Don't get me wrong, it WAS a cool thing to say you got to see in person. Still, we did form a human chain and got outta Dodge before the parade was over. Seemed better to leave before the crowd no longer had something to focus their attention upon. Our German friends said this year was particularly rowdy and the news was all about it last night. So Tina, if you are reading this - you were right!

Anyway, I was pretty pumped that I did get to see those giant puppet head guys finally. The kids mostly had fun - if sometimes in a deer in the headlights sorta way. Always an adventure in this family. Always an adventure. They will never be short on stories!

If you want to get a feel for the place and the day I made this slide video. The music is one of the party songs you hear at all these things. I apologize in advance if you are singing "La, la, lalala" all day now. If it makes you feel any better it is stuck in my head now too. "So a schöner tag..." Remember I already explained this event so you know that this may be a PG show ok? Ok.

February 19, 2012

I had to laugh when my son commented on Facebook that a visit to our house typically includes your involvement in a play, a concert, or a photo shoot. This is actually true, particularly if you are a guest of one of our middle kids. You may well find yourself swept away into a throwback fantasy world - at least for a little while. It's all good fun.

May 09, 2011

I am so very excited to share a project that has been brewing the past few weeks. Friends from very different regions of the world have teamed up with me to create an international picture of the week project called Snapshots Around the World. Each Monday Sue in Japan, Rebecca in the US (midwest), and I in Germany will share an image from our own cultural perspectives interpreting a general theme. (Earthquakes, labor strikes, floods, nuclear blasts, emergency surgery, and acts of God permitting - because between us we have some of those this year ; ))

Please come join us and if you want to play along leave us a link in the comments with your take on the week's theme.

January 13, 2010

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